Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)

2012-12-04T21:34:26Z

163.231.6.91: /* Recordings */

{{italic title|force=true}}
{{Infobox Airliner incident
| name=Plane Wreck at Los Gatos
| Crash image=
|Date=January 29, 1948
|Type=Fire, originating in the left engine-driven fuel pump
|occurrence_type=Accident
|Site=[[Diablo Range|Diablo Mts.]], west of [[Coalinga]], [[Fresno County, California]], [[United States|USA]]|
Fatalities=32 (all)|
Injuries=|
Aircraft Type=[[C-47 Skytrain|C-47B-40-DK Skytrain]]|
Operator=Airline Transport Carriers<br>(under contract with the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|INS]])|
Tail Number=NC36480|
Passengers=29|
Crew=3|
Survivors=0|
}}
'''''Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)''''' is a [[protest song]] with [[lyrics]] by [[Woody Guthrie]] detailing the January 28, 1948 crash of a plane near Los Gatos Canyon,<ref name="klein">{{cite book|author=Klein, Joe.|year=1999|title=Woody Guthrie: A Life|publisher=Delta|isbn=0-385-33385-4}}</ref> 20 miles west of [[Coalinga]] in [[Fresno County, California]], [[United States]].<ref name="indybay">{{cite web|title=60th anniversary of "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)"|publisher=[[Indybay]]|url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/30/18475895.php|accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref><ref name="DC3">{{cite web|title=DC3 Aircraft Crash Site in Los Gatos Canyon|publisher=Three Rocks Research|url=http://www.picacho.org/interest/dc3-site.html|accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> The crash occurred in Los Gatos Canyon and not in the town of [[Los Gatos, California|Los Gatos]] itself, which is in [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara County]], approximately 150 miles away. Guthrie was inspired to write the song by what he considered the [[racism|racist]] mistreatment of the passengers before and after the accident.<ref name="klein"/> The crash resulted in the deaths of 32 people, 4 Americans and 28 [[Migrant worker|migrant farm workers]] who were being [[Deportation|deported]] from [[California]] back to [[Mexico]].<ref name="DC3"/>

== History ==
The genesis of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" reportedly occurred when Guthrie was struck by the fact that [[Radio broadcasting|radio]] and [[newspaper]] coverage of the event did not give the victims' names, but instead referred to them merely as "deportees."<ref name="indybay"/> For example, none of the deportees' names were printed in the January 29, 1948 ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' report, only those of the flight crew and the security guard.<ref name="DC3"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Los Gatos Canyon Plane Crash, Fresno County, California|publisher=Eastern Mojave Vegetation|url=http://www.schweich.com/geoCAFreLosGatosCynCrash.html|accessdate=2009-10-16}}</ref> Guthrie responded with a poem, which, when it was first written, featured only rudimentary musical accompaniment, with Guthrie chanting the song rather than singing it.<ref name="klein"/> In the poem, Guthrie assigned symbolic names to the dead: "Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita; adiós, mis amigos, Jesús y María..."<ref name="lyrics">{{cite web|title=Deeportee (Plane Wreck at Los gatos) lyrics|publisher=The Official Woody Guthrie Website|url=http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Deportee.htm|accessdate=2009-09-27}}</ref>

The Mexican victims of the accident were placed in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in [[Fresno, California]]. There were 27 men and one woman, with only 12 of the victims ever being identified.<ref name="bee">{{Citation|author=|title=|newspaper=[[Fresno Bee]]|location=[[Fresno, California]]|date=1 February 1948}}</ref> The grave is 84 feet by 7 feet with two rows of caskets and not all of the bodies were buried the first day, but the caskets at the site did have an overnight guard.<ref name="bee"/>

A decade later, Guthrie's poem was set to music and given a haunting melody by a [[Teacher|schoolteacher]] named Martin Hoffman.<ref name="indybay"/> Shortly after, [[folk singer]] and friend of Woody Guthrie, [[Pete Seeger]], began performing the song at [[concert]]s and it was Seeger's rendition that popularized the song during this time.<ref name="indybay"/>

[[File:Woody Guthrie 2.jpg|right|thumb|Woody Guthrie]]
It has been suggested by the Three Rocks Research website that in fact, "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" betrays Woody Guthrie's lack of understanding regarding the [[Bracero Program]].<ref name="DC3"/> The program was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements created by the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] in 1942, that permitted Mexican farm laborers (or braceros) to work in the United States due to the severe labor shortages caused by [[World War II]]. Under the terms of the program, the labor contractors were expected to provide transportation to and from the Mexican border, with the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|U.S. Immigration Service]] being required to repatriate the Mexican citizens if the contractor defaulted.<ref name="DC3"/> As such, the "deportation" of braceros in this fashion was simply a way of meeting the obligations of the program.<ref name="DC3"/> However, it could be argued that Guthrie's song is less about the Bracero Program itself and more a comment on the attitude of [[Society of the United States|American society]] and the [[News media (United States)|media]] towards the Mexican farm laborers.

In addition to being a [[lament]] for the braceros killed in the crash, the opening lines of "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)":

:"The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
:The oranges piled in their [[creosote]] dumps."<ref name="lyrics"/>

are another protest by Guthrie. At the time, government policies paid farmers to destroy their crops in order to keep farm production and prices high.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mark Hammond: Chapel Talk|publisher=The Irene DuPont Library|url=http://library.standrews-de.org/lists/ChapelTalks/CTFaculty/HammondCT-01-7-2004.pdf|accessdate=2009-10-16}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> Guthrie felt that it was wrong to render food inedible by poisoning it in a world where hungry people lived.

"Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" has been described by [[journalist]] [[Joe Klein]] as "the last great song he [Guthrie] would write, a memorial to the nameless migrants "all scattered like dry leaves" in Los Gatos Canyon."<ref name="klein"/> The song has been [[Cover version|covered]] many times, often under a variety of alternate titles, including "Deportees", "Ballad of the Deportees", "Deportee Song" and "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)".

== Recordings ==
The song has been covered by a multitude of artists, including:

* [[Dave Guard]] and the Whiskey Hill Singers (featuring [[Judy Henske]]) on ''Dave Guard and the Whiskey Hill Singers'' (1962)
* [[The Kingston Trio]] on ''Time To Think'' (1963)
* [[Cisco Houston]] on ''Cisco Sings the Songs of Woody Guthrie'' (1963)
* [[Judy Collins]] on ''[[Judy Collins 3 (Judy Collins album)|Judy Collins #3]]'' (1964)
* [[The Byrds]] on the ''[[Ballad of Easy Rider (album)|Ballad of Easy Rider]]'' (1969)
* [[Joan Baez]] on ''[[Blessed Are...]]'' (1971), and live on ''Bowery Songs'' (2004)
* [[Arlo Guthrie]] on ''[[Arlo Guthrie (album)|Arlo Guthrie]]'' (1974) and with [[Pete Seeger]] on ''Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger: Together in Concert'' (1975)
* [[Bob Dylan]] and [[Joan Baez]] during the 2nd Part of the [[Rolling Thunder Revue]] (1976)
* [[David Carradine]] on ''[[Bound for Glory (film)|Bound for Glory]]'' (motion picture soundtrack) (1976)
* [[Dolly Parton]] on ''[[9 to 5 and Odd Jobs]]'' (1980)
* [[Sweet Honey in the Rock]] on ''The Other Side'' (1985)
* [[Christy Moore]] on, ''[[Spirit of Freedom]]'' (1985)
* [[The Highwaymen (country supergroup)|The Highwaymen]] on ''[[Highwayman (The Highwaymen album)|Highwayman]]'' (1985)
* [[Christina Lindberg (singer)|Christina Lindberg]] on ''[[Stanna stanna]]'' (1985), in as "Flyktingarna" ("The Refugees") with lyrics by [[Martin Hoffman]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://smdb.kb.se/catalog/id/001890954|title=Svensk mediedatabas|accessdate=16 June 2011}}</ref>
* [[Hoyt Axton]] on ''Hard Travelin''' (1986)
* [[Gene Clark]] on ''So Rebellious a Lover'' (1987) – with Carla Olson
* [[Peter, Paul and Mary]] on ''Lifelines'' (1995) and ''Lifelines Live'' (1996)
* [[Concrete Blonde]] on ''[[Concrete Blonde y Los Illegals]]'' (1997)
* [[Nanci Griffith]] with an ensemble including [[Lucinda Williams]], [[Tish Hinojosa]], [[Odetta]], [[Steve Earle]], and [[John Stewart (folk musician)|John Stewart]] on ''[[Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)]]'' (1998)
* [[Los Super Seven]] on ''Los Super Seven'' (1998).
* Svante Karlsson on ''American Songs'' as "Deportees (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos/Goodbye Juan)" (1999)
* [[Bruce Springsteen]] on ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Til We Outnumber 'Em'' (2000)
* [[Ox (band)|Ox]] on ''Dust Bowl Revival'' (2003)
* [[Paddy Reilly]] on ''The Very Best Of Paddy Reilly: 30 of His Finest Performances'' (2003)
* [[Barbara Dane]] on ''Classic Folk Music From Smithsonian Folkways'' (2004)
* [[Derek Warfield|Derek Warfield and the Wolfe Tones]] on ''50 Great Irish Rebel Songs and Ballads'' (2005)
* [[The Battlefield Band]] on ''The Road of Tears'' (2006)
* [[Billy Bragg]] on ''[[Talking with the Taxman about Poetry]]'' extended edition (2006)
* [[Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician)|Roy Brown Ramírez]], [[Tito Auger]], and [[Tao Rodríguez-Seeger]] on ''Que Vaya Bien'' (2006) ([[Spanish language|Spanish]])
* [[Richard Shindell]] on, ''[[South of Delia]]'' (2007)
* [[Old Crow Medicine Show]] on ''[[Song of America (album)|Song of America]]'' (2007)
* The Bergerfolk on ''The Bergerfolk Sing For Joy'' (album), Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (1973)
* [[John Stewart (folk musician)|John Stewart]] "Illegals/Deportee Medley" on ''Secret Tapes 1984-87'' (2009)
* [[Dan Bern]] on ''Live in New York'' (2011)

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
{{coord missing|Fresno County, California}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Plane_Wreck_At_Los_Gatos.htm Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) song lyrics] at woodyguthrie.org
*[http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Deportee_1948_crash.htm Check-Six.com - The "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos" Canyon] (includes full passenger and crew list)
*[http://www.picacho.org/interest/dc3-site.html A description of the DC3 aircraft crash site] at picacho.org (includes text of ''The New York Times'' article)
*[http://www.schweich.com/geoCAFreLosGatosCynCrash.html Newspaper report on the crash from ''The New York Times'']

[[Category:1948 songs]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in California]]
[[Category:Deportation]]
[[Category:Fresno County, California]]
[[Category:Woody Guthrie songs]]
[[Category:Joan Baez songs]]
[[Category:Protest songs]]
[[Category:Disasters in California]]
[[Category:Songs about California]]
[[Category:Songs based on actual events]]
[[Category:Songs written by Woody Guthrie]]

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948}}

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Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)